Sigma rule: Potential Vcruntime140 DLL Sideloading

Rule

Title

Potential Vcruntime140 DLL Sideloading

Status

experimental

Level

high

Author

Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems)

Date

2026-01-12

Modified

2026-05-18

File

rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_vcruntime140.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects potential DLL sideloading of vcruntime140.dll, a common C++ runtime library.
Threat actors have been observed using DLL sideloading techniques to load malicious payloads under the guise of legitimate applications such as SqlWriter, SqlDumper etc.
Notably, APT29 has been documented leveraging WinELOADER to sideload vcruntime140.dll for executing malicious code.

Log source

product

windows

category

image_load

Detection

selection:
    ImageLoaded|endswith: '\vcruntime140.dll'
filter_main_legitimate_path:
    ImageLoaded|startswith:
        - 'C:\Windows\System32\'
        - 'C:\Windows\SysWOW64\'
        - 'C:\Program Files\'
        - 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
filter_main_legitimate_signer:
    Signed: true
    SignatureStatus: 'Valid'
    Description|endswith: 'C Runtime Library'
filter_optional_onedrive:
    Image|startswith: 'C:\Users\'
    Image|contains: '\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OneDrive\'
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_* and not 1 of filter_optional_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Unknown

Tags

• attack.persistence
• attack.privilege-escalation
• attack.execution
• attack.stealth
• attack.t1574.001

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1574.001

References

• https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/apt29-wineloader-german-political-parties
• https://www.zscaler.com/blogs/security-research/european-diplomats-targeted-spikedwine-wineloader
• https://www.nextron-systems.com/2023/09/15/detecting-janelarat-with-yara-and-thor/

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/windows/image_load/image_load_side_load_vcruntime140.yml